This invention is concerned with the preparation of linear primary alcohols from predominantly internal olefins.
The oxo or hydroformylation reaction is an important commercial method for the preparation of aldehydes and/or alcohols from olefins which may be shown in the general case by the following equation: ##STR1##
Alcohols produced by the above reaction or "oxo" alcohols find use as solvents, intermediates in platicizer manufacturing, and in agricultural and lubricant applications. Recently, some of these higher oxo alcohols have been used as surface-active agent intermediates. These alcohols, which contain about 75-80% linear isomers, are highly biodegradable but their biodegradability is inversely proportional to the amount of branched isomer present in the final alcohol product. Hence, there is considerable interest in limiting the amount of branched isomer.